TMNT Sisters
by mysteryred
Summary: Three one-shots inspired by a post on Tumblr that toyed with the idea of The Scarlet Witch and Black Widow becoming BFFs. I applied that concept to Karai and April. I do not own TMNT.
1. Chapter 1

**April**

Clutching the brown paper bag to my chest, I stood just inside the lair door, scanning the living area for my friends. It was remarkably quiet, but if they caught whiff of the contents of this bag…

As I inched my way further inside, making my way to the kitchen I noticed Karai sitting at the table with an empty teacup between her trembling fingers.

"Hey Karai, how are you feeling?" I busied myself opening the bag and emptying it onto the counter, hoping to not seem horribly nosey.

"Well at least I'm not a mutant snake anymore." Her voice was just above a whisper.

Glancing at her out of the corner of my eye I realized she wasn't wearing any make-up and the bareness of her face made the usually fierce kunoichi suddenly appear very small, frail and worn beyond her years. The enormity of everything that had happened in the past six months of her life had clearly taken a toll on her.

Grabbing a box of gyoza and two pairs of chopsticks I sat across from her. "Want to share with me?"

I held the chopsticks out to her. Her brown eyes brimmed with tears and she did not take them.

"Best dumplings ever, right?" I smiled at her, placing the chopsticks on the table before her and opened the box of takeout before putting it between us.

She studied me for a minute, probably remembering how we first met, I'm sure. For our past had a rocky start of its own and while my life had been far from easy hers was a downright mess.

 _Come on Karai, you're the strongest girl I know. You can make it through this._

As if she'd read my mind the corner of her mouth quirked up a bit and her eyes dried, "Yeah, why not?"

"Good," I nodded as I fumbled with my chopsticks.

She giggled a little, at my struggle, and while the sound was pathetic it still held faint traces of her usual catty nature. I was glad to hear it, even if it was at my expense.

Karai had always been sharp, skilled, and clever. But she'd also been confused, torn, lonely and lost. I could've hated her, I had plenty to hold against her, but we'd been through so much and we were the only two girls in our motley crew. It all made the past seem irrelevant and her company somehow appealed to me, despite her flaws. Besides, sometimes Karai could really surprise you.

"Don't try to move the bottom stick. For the most part it stays stationary. That should help."

I looked up from my struggle to find she wasn't mocking me. There was no hint of sarcasm in her voice. Maybe she felt the same way about me. After all we actually had a lot in common, neither of us had any girl friends, and while she had mutant brothers, they were my best friends, and neither of us had a mother.

Taking her advice I found that I was now able to grasp my gyoza, "Thanks!"

"Sure," she shrugged, "these really are the best dumplings ever."

"Yeah, I'm surprised Mikey isn't in here running off with the rest of them by now." I looked around and thought I saw a flicker of something orange duck behind the entry to the kitchen.

"They've been giving me some space. I don't think any of them know what to do with me." Karai frowned, her gaze falling into the empty cup.

My heart hurt for her. It was hard enough for her to come to terms with the truth about her father but throw in six months of mutant snake life on the run, and top that off with being held captive, well it was enough to drive anyone to their brink.

I reached for the chipped porcelain cup and she released it to me. "Here, I'll make you another."

"Thanks," she murmured.

As I turned on the kettle she shifted uncomfortably in her chair.

"Karai, if you ever want to talk about anything," I glanced at her over my shoulder and my heart hurt to find her eyes clamped shut as she pressed her lips flat before she nodded furiously.

"I'd like that April. It's very good of you after… everything."

While I waited on the kettle I turned to face her, "We've been through hell Karai, but I'll tell you this. You are one tough girl, if anybody is a survivor it's you. And the guys would do anything for you and Master Splinter loves you so much. You are far from alone here." The water was ready and I prepared her tea, "Do you take sugar or anything?"

"I don't know how- to do this." Her voice hitched and the sound, vulnerability, coming from her, left me feeling as broken as she was.

"Oh, Karai, you don't have to." I placed the cup before her and slipped into my chair, "We just figure it out as we go. They aren't going to put any pressure on you and you'll find your way. You will heal, trust me, this family is resilient. Besides," I slid another box of gyoza her way, "I really like it that there's another girl around. We could be like sisters or something." I raised an eyebrow and grinned at her.

A small spark of light flickered over her eyes, "I'd like that."

"Good. Me too."


	2. Chapter 2

"Hey, April!"

Michelangelo's hand came down on my shoulder and my heart about leapt out of my chest. Instinctively my hands flew over top of his, grabbing and twisting his arm as I flipped him onto his shell.

"Whoa!" he yelped.

"Oh, Mikey! Don't sneak up on me like that!" I threw my hands on my hips and shook my head at him.

He lay on his shell, grinning at me, "Sorry April." His fair blue eyes sparkled like they'd been sprinkled with stars and I could not resist the heart melting smile on his sweet baby face.

"Come on, get up," I said, offering him my hand.

"Did Karai go to bed?" Mikey's voice was unusually soft and the light in his eyes dimmed noticeably.

"Yes."

"Are you staying the night?" There was concern in his voice. He wasn't playing around and since that rarely happened, I wondered what it meant.

"I'll be here all week. My dad's out of town and I didn't want to be home alone. Master Splinter and he talked and thought it best for me to stay here."

Michelangelo smiled, "That's really great April."

Something was up. He was being so serious. Where was my practical joker of a friend? "Mikey?"

"That was the first thing she's eaten in three days April. I think you being here, might have made a difference. She hasn't gotten dressed, doesn't train, she screams in her sleep, it's like she wants us nearby but doesn't want us to talk to her. We don't know what to do." His mask bunched and the frown on his face was so out of place for him that the sight of it made my heart sink like a lead weight.

"Oh, Mikey, she's been through a lot. We all have. It's just going to take time. Just keep being there. Trust me she knows you want to help. She's not one to ask for it, so maybe when you see the opportunity, do your thing." I put an arm around the orange clad turtles neck, "Cause nobody does happy better than Michelangelo."

He drew me in for the rare treat of one of his amazing hugs, rubbing his hand across the middle of my back. "Thanks April."

"Glad I can help," I whispered, returning his embrace then pulling away to look him in the eye, "now stop wiping your pizza fingers on me."


	3. Chapter 3

The truth was Karai wasn't the only one screaming in her sleep. After spending many a night in the lair and three months with the boys at the farmhouse, I knew we all had some rough nights. We just each handled them differently. Mikey would sneak into either Leo or Raph's room bringing his teddy bear with him. Raph would get up and go to the dojo to fight his demons. Leo would meditate, and I always knew because the scent of sandalwood incense would drift down from his bedroom and beneath the crack of his door I could see the flicker of candlelight. Donatello would get up, fix a cup of coffee and head to the lab to work on a project. And I either wrote in my journal or watched re-runs of my favorite shows.

Nightmares usually crept in from triggers that occurred during the day, especially if we had a bad night on patrol. It could be as simple as someone talking about their mother or as wild as the guys hunting down a new mutant. Anything that fit into the pains of my past drew the picture of bad dreams in my future.

Tonight I suspected it had to do with thinking about Karai. I sat up on the couch, curled up under my fluffy yellow blanket watching the girl on t.v. kicking serious butt and feeling empowered by it. Suddenly the steel restraints on a Kraang laboratory table were retreating back into the place I kept them locked up at.

"Wow, that's just ridiculous!"

Karai's voice caused me to throw my blanket up in the air and jump off the couch, "Oh my gosh! One thing about being in a house full of ninja's, the lot of you sure can scare the bejeezus out of a girl!"

She snickered and pointed to the screen, "Why is the blonde girl fighting with a wooden stake?"

"Oh, that's Buffy, she's a vampire slayer. Come on, you'll love this, she totally kicks butt!"

I grabbed my blanket from the floor and sat on one end of the couch and to my surprise she sat beside me instead of on the other end. She watched the show intently and I noticed the dark circles under her eyes and the hollowness to her cheeks, but she was smiling and that was a start. "What kind of name is Buffy?" she glanced at me, then back to the screen.

"Don't ask me, I didn't name her. But she and Max are the original girl's of butt kickery and I love them." I offered her a corner of my blanket and she pulled it around her.

"Which one is Max?" Karai pointed to the screen.

I laughed, "Max isn't on this show, she's on Dark Angel, my other favorite series. Oh, Karai, this calls for a movie marathon. Both shows are long over, but nothing I've seen since can touch them. Well… maybe the one hundred, but these are still my favs."

"I've never had a movie marathon." She said it like she was tasting the idea but didn't really know what it meant.

"Well it involves ice cream, popcorn, pizza, a couch, pajamas, a string of episodes of these two shows back to back and just a really good time."

Karai's mouth curled into a tiny smile, "It doesn't sound like you'd have any time to think about anything."

I tilted my head to the side and grinned. "It's just what the doctor ordered."

"Yes it is," she nodded, turning her attention back to the screen.

It was quiet a few moments except for the screams from Buffy's victims, before a new voice squeaked from beside me.

"Got room for one more?"

Karai and I looked at Mikey, whose stuffed bear was tucked under one arm, a nervous smile on his face. I was about to reply when Karai piped up.

"There's room next to me Michelangelo."


End file.
